The Jacques-Prévert college in Migennes intends to strengthen the workforce of its basketball section, the only one in Yonne, for the next school year. “The ideal size would be between 30 and 32 students, notes Aline Boudard, physical education and sports teacher (EPS) and coordinator. This year, we have 19 students, including two girls.”There is only one girl left in the basketball section with Aline Boudard and coach André Janicki this year (here, the 4th-3rd group)
If the teacher puts the emphasis on the female public, it is because it has been regularly lacking since the creation of the section. “It has always fluctuated, she noted. We started with sixteen students including four girls in 2018-2019. We went up to 33 middle school students including ten girls.”
A phenomenon accentuated by the Covid-19 crisis
This year, there are only two, one per group. Or rather “were”. “That of the 6th-5th level gave up along the way, she says. She did not have the profile for a sports section and should not have understood what she was getting into.”
When we asked them about this, these young girls could not explain their reasons
Aline Boudard (EPS teacher, coordinator of the basketball section)
The pandemic has accentuated this phenomenon of desertion. “Of the fourteen students who stopped during the 2020-2021 year following the first confinement, the majority were girls, says the teacher. We did not understand. They had a very good level, however. When we questioned them about it, they were unable to explain their reasons to us.” Neither did their parents, it seems.
This trend, perceptible in the school environment, is found in the local basketball clubs with which the section maintains close ties.
Disaffection with multiple and poorly identified causes
“Several causes can explain this situation, believes Philippe Robin, the principal of the college since the start of the school year. Certain representations can dissuade them from enrolling, for example. The students also have a more consumerist attitude… This is of course not not specific to the public of this establishment.”
Two distinct level groups in the section
To compensate for this absence, Aline Boudard has made changes to the organization of the basketball section which will come into effect at the start of the next school year. “It will remain divided into two groups, she explains. A first, called “discovery”, open to 6th and 5th graders will welcome any child with a minimum sporting level. The objective is to prevent the sixth graders who already have to digesting the start of the school year are overwhelmed. I will take care of their supervision during the first term.”
We are betting that they will eventually take a liking to this sport. The challenge is that the 6th and 5th end up enrolling in a club.
Philip Robin (Principal of the Jacques-Prévert college in Migennes)
The second group, called “of excellence”, will integrate the 4th and 3rd. “We will only take those already licensed in clubs,” she said. Their follow-up will be carried out by the coach who already officiates with the students. “We are betting that they will eventually take a liking to this sport, sums up the headteacher. The challenge is that the 6th and 5th graders end up enrolling in a club. We will also improve the follow-up for a year on the other trying to meet the families.”
Emphasis is also placed on upstream communication to make the section known. “I hadn’t worked on it so much before, she concedes. I left a lot of flyers in the primary schools in the area and even put up posters in the public space this year.”
An extension to the Louis-Davier basketball section
The Jacques-Prévert college basketball section opened its doors for the first time during the 2018-2019 school year. “It’s the only one in the department, says Aline Boudard. There are only four in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.” Its location in Migennes is ideal, because it allows you to extend learning in the sister section of Lycée Louis-Davier in Joigny.
Aline Boudard will focus the work with the 6th-5th grade group around the discovery of basketball to avoid any rejection by the student afterwards.
Concentrated on two levels (6th and 4th) originally, it was heard on the other two afterwards. It represents three hours of lessons per week under the leadership of André Janicki, the coach from the Union Sportif Joigny (USJ), “to which are added the training sessions for those who are licensed in a club”, adds -she.
A section accessible to all students from Yonne by derogation
The registration of a pupil gives parents the possibility of requesting an exemption if the child does not live in the sector of the establishment (the Marcel-Pagnol school in Migennes, Bonnard, Bassou, Bussy-en-Othe, Charmoy, Chemilly-sur-Yonne, Épineau-les-Voves and Laroche-Saint-Cydroine). “A certain number of young Jovinians come to us rather than to the Marie-Noël college for this reason,” she explains.
Participation is not sanctioned by an additional note on the quarterly bulletin, but by an appreciation. “We try to highlight the student so that he gains self-confidence,” comments the teacher. However, young people take part in competitions within the framework of the UNSS. “They are expected at the academic final at the college of Longvic, near Dijon, on Wednesday April 6,” she underlines.
Pierre-Emmanuel Erard
